


Siempre me he soñado una vida contigo

by howtosingit



Series: 30 Days of Tarlos/30 Songs of Tarlos [29]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Boys In Love, Carlos's Mom, Declarations Of Love, Established Relationship, Fluff, Love, M/M, Oaths & Vows, Romance, Wedding Fluff, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:20:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24989698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/howtosingit/pseuds/howtosingit
Summary: “Cuando los años nos pesen / y las piernas no caminen / los ojos se nos cierren / y la piel ya no se estire / cuando lo único que pese /  eres el amor de mi vida”*In front of everyone that they know and love, TK and Carlos say “I do.”30 Days of Tarlos/30 Songs of Tarlos - Day 29: “ADMV” by Maluma
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Series: 30 Days of Tarlos/30 Songs of Tarlos [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1770025
Comments: 19
Kudos: 129





	Siempre me he soñado una vida contigo

**Author's Note:**

> I’m a theatre nerd, so I decided to take a leaf out of Shakespeare’s book and end my 30 Days of Tarlos with a wedding, just like The Bard did in most of his comedies. First up, the ceremony!

\----------

Carlos feels like he might throw up.

He’s pacing back and forth in front of the wooden doors, the hallway deserted except for him and his mother. Their behavior could not be more different at the moment: whereas Carlos is a nervous wreck, completely unable to stand still, his mother seems totally calm as she sits on a nearby bench, her eyebrow arched as she looks up at him with a small smile.

“You need to relax, mijo,” she says, jumping up to grab his arms, halting him in his tracks. “Cálmate.” She stares down at the cuffs of his white shirt. “If you keep pulling at this, you’re going to rip it, and I won’t have time to sew it back together.”

“Lo siento, mami,” Carlos mutters, guilt settling in his stomach as he looks down at his wrists. In his blind panic, he’s spent the past few minutes trying to pull the threads out of his sleeve. He balls his hands into fists, wondering why he’s feeling so on-edge when this is supposed to be the happiest day of his life.

“What’s going on, mijo?” his mother asks, raising a gentle hand to his cheek. “Why are you so worried?”

He feels a stinging sensation in his eyes, and he quickly looks upwards to blink back the oncoming tears. “I don’t know,” he whispers, clenching his jaw to try to stop his voice from shaking. “I’ve been waiting for this day forever, and now that it’s here, I’m so overwhelmed that I feel like I can’t enjoy it.”

“Ah, por supuesto,” his mother says, gripping his arms tightly until he looks back down at her. He’s shocked to find her smiling up at him. “You know, I was a mess on my wedding day, too, mijo. No, really, I was,” she confirms at Carlos’s doubtful look. “I had this beautiful dress and all of these gorgeous ladies all around me. Your abuelita was being a nightmare, naturally, but I was so much worse. I kept wanting to rip the dress off and find a quiet place to hide and never look at anyone, ever again. I felt so terrified, nene.”

“What happened?” Carlos asks, his curiosity beating out his own terror.

“They opened the doors, and I saw your papá,” she replies, a far-away look appearing on her face. “He was standing at the end of the aisle wearing this beautiful suit, he looked so handsome, mijo,” she continues, and Carlos can see tears forming in her eyes. “He turned to look at me, and I could tell that he was scared, too. There’s just no hiding it from the person you love most. But, and this will sound crazy, but then there was this moment where we locked eyes, and nothing else mattered. There were hundreds of people in the room, and all I could see was him, and it made me feel safe. All I wanted to do was stand by his side.” A tear falls down her cheek, and Carlos reaches out to wipe it away, tears of his own falling now. “So, I walked down that aisle to do it, and I never stopped. I stayed by his side as long as I could.”

Carlos feels his heart in his throat, and he lets out a heavy breath. “I wish he could be here,” he whispers. His mother looks up at him, reaching out to brush his tears away.

“Yo tambien, cariño,” she says softly, taking his face in her delicate hands. “He would be so, so proud of you. You are every bit the man that he dreamed you would become.”

Carlos feels his heart swell at her words, and he pulls her towards him, wrapping his arms around her slight frame. They stand there for a moment, holding each other, until they hear a gentle knock on the door in front of them. 

“Shit,” Carlos exhales, pulling away as he feels his heart beat faster.

“Not in church, Carlos,” his mother scolds, brushing her hands down his jacket to smooth any wrinkles. Then, she moves to his side, linking their arms together. 

“Estoy muy feliz por ti, mijo,” she says as the doors open onto the congregation, squeezing his arm as they begin to walk forward, but Carlos doesn’t hear her, all of his attention on someone else across the room.

Everything fades away as he takes in the man walking towards him, his arm linked with his father’s. He can’t help the way that his eyes rake up a body that he knows intimately, the tailored navy pants that he’s wearing showing off his muscular thighs underneath. His torso is covered by a well-fitted matching blazer, and Carlos can’t help the way he stares at the outline of his strong arms, knowing exactly how they feel when they’re wrapped tightly around him. His gaze continues to move upwards, taking in the familiar chiseled jaw and sharp cheekbones. Finally, his eyes find a pair of green ones, currently sparkling with tears as he looks across the room at Carlos.

TK Strand has never looked more beautiful. 

Carlos can’t take his eyes off of him, completely unaware of the hundreds of people sitting off to his left, or the altar to his right. His heart pounds loudly in his ears, making it impossible to hear the music guiding them to the middle of the room. After what feels like an eternity, the four of them finally meet, and Carlos feels his mother shift at his side, but he can’t take his eyes off TK to spare her a glance. He feels her lips press against his cheek, watching as TK gives his dad a hug, his face still turned towards Carlos. Then, it’s just the two of them looking at one another, and Carlos feels like his face is going to break from how hard he’s smiling.

“Hi,” TK whispers, his eyes soft as he takes him in. 

The sound of his voice shoots straight to Carlos’s heart, and he can’t help it when he dives forward to wrap TK into a hug, needed to feel his body against him. Those strong arms come up to hold him tight, TK chuckling quietly in his ear.

“Hi,” Carlos finally says, pressing his face into TK’s neck to breathe him in. His vision clouds as more tears form, and after a moment they pull away, keeping their hands linked. 

“You okay?” TK asks, his brows furrowed in worry as he squeezes Carlos’s hands in his own. 

He nods quickly, his face flushed with embarrassment. “Yeah,” he breathes out, gripping TK’s hands tightly. “I’m just so happy.”

TK’s eyes shine as he stares at him. “Me too,” he responds, and Carlos can hear how his voice trembles with emotion.

They’re interrupted by the officiant appearing at their side to address the room, and the ceremony begins. Carlos doesn’t hear most of it, too busy opening staring at TK, his heart still roaring in his ears as he stands before the other man; in his defense, TK doesn’t appear to be listening either, too busy making faces at him as he stares back at him. Carlos can’t help the way his lips rise into a smile, pressing them together to hold back a laugh.

Finally, the officiant’s voice fades and Carlos looks up to find him staring at him, his eyebrows raised slightly. He realizes with a jolt that it must be time for his vows, and he lets out a sharp breath as his heart nearly explodes in his chest. He can feel himself shaking and, recalling his mom’s words from earlier, he would give anything to run away and hide. But then, he looks back towards TK, the man that he loves more than anything in this entire world. His best friend gives him a steady look, running his thumbs along the back of his hands, and Carlos immediately relaxes, knowing that there is no other place that he would rather be than right here by his side.

“Ty,” Carlos starts, his voice low, just for TK to hear, “I knew from the moment that we first met that we would land here, declaring our love in front of everyone that we know as we committed ourselves to each other for the rest of our lives.

“Those first few months of knowing you were hard, and really scary,” Carlos continues, his voice growing stronger as he watches TK visibly swallow across from him. “But, the scariest thing for me wasn’t knowing whether or not I wanted to be with you, but whether we would be able to handle everything that life decided to throw at us.

“I’ve always believed in great love stories,” he goes on, taking a deep breath. “I grew up surrounded by one of the greatest love stories of all-time, and I watched it end too soon.” His voice wavers around a sob, but he chokes it back; he doesn’t want to cry before he tells TK everything that’s in his heart. “Even when I realized that my love story would be different than my parents’, I knew that once I found what they had, I would do everything to hold onto it for as long as I could. And then I met you, and there was no going back.

“Loving you has always been so easy for me, even when everything else gets hard. It feels so natural that I don’t even know when it started, but a part of me knows that even if it’s crazy to say, I loved you on that very first day, from the very first time you aimed your beautiful smile my way. 

“I love you, cariño. I love every moment of time we’ve had together, and I love the time that we have coming. I might not know what the future holds, but I know this: I will always be on your team, even when I’m your opponent. I will always fight for you, and protect you and keep you safe. That’s all I want to do, every day, because that’s what I was made to do. I am meant to be yours, forever, and I want to thank you for trusting me with your heart, even when it was the hardest thing for you to do. Thank you for being my best friend and the love of my life.”

He feels tears on his cheeks, seeing that TK is in the same state. Without hesitation, he reaches up to brush them away. Before he can pull away, though, TK’s hands come up to grip his wrists tightly, holding him there, even when he’s encouraged to speak next. He takes a deep breath, shaking his head as a smile pulls at his lips.

“Letting you go first was such a bad idea,” he chokes out, and Carlos can’t help but to laugh, leaning forward to press his lips to TK’s forehead. He pulls away only when he feels TK prepare to continue.

“Carlos,” he starts, “you’re going to have to bear with me through a lot of this, because you’ve definitely heard it all before, but it’s worth repeating.” Carlos nods, clenching his jaw as he runs his thumbs under TK’s eyes, holding him steady.

“I could not have met you at a worse time in my life,” TK says, a familiar look of guilt taking over his face. “When I came to Austin, I had no idea who I was. I felt like a shell of a person, and nothing at all like who I thought I was supposed to be. I told you, the week after we met, how I just felt numb, and I couldn’t see anything but gray all around me.

“That wasn’t entirely true though,” he continues, his voice growing stronger as he goes. “Everything was gray, except for you. Every moment that I spent with you was filled with the most vibrant, powerful colors. I know why, now, but back then I couldn’t appreciate it for what it was, and I couldn’t appreciate you for who you were and what you meant to me, even then.

“I know now that those colors were our souls meeting, the way they were always meant to. You say that you’ve always believed in great love stories, and so have I. Love is something that has always felt so powerful and all-consuming, and I know now that nothing in this world holds as much power as what it feels like to love you.

“I found you, Carlos, the way that I was always meant to, and it didn’t matter that it happened at the worst time of my life. It didn’t matter because you were you, and you stood by my side through every hard moment. When I cried, you held me. When I had a bad day, you found a way to distract me. When I just needed to feel something bigger than myself, you kissed me like it was the greatest honor of your life. You have given me a love deeper than anything that I ever imagined possible for myself, and you did it just by being you. And you’re all I’ve ever needed.

“I’m going to spend the rest of my life showing you how much you mean to me, Carlos Reyes,” TK states, his voice strengthening with conviction. “I’m going to take care of you, and protect you, and love you with everything I have, because knowing you has been the most precious gift, and I’m never going to let anything take you away from me.”

When TK finishes, Carlos can’t help but to pull him close, his arms coming wrap him in a hug. The stand there, holding one another, Carlos running his fingers through TK’s soft hair. It’s just the two of them, the rest of the world far away. More than anything, he wishes that he could fuse their hearts and souls together so that they would never have to let go, that they would never be apart again.

They do eventually separate, the officiant jumping in to finish the ceremony. They exchange rings, which Carlos definitely thinks was supposed to happen during their vows, but it doesn’t matter. They can’t help the smiles that take over their faces as they slip them on each other’s fingers. When they are asked if they will take each other to have and to hold, they each choke out a garbled “I do,” and Carlos thinks there might be a laugh or two from the front row, but he really can’t tell. He’s too busy staring at the brightest, most captivating man he’s ever laid eyes on.

Finally, they are married, and Carlos feels his heart hammering in his chest at the fact that he can officially call TK his, forever and always. They dive towards each other as soon as they are given permission, their lips fusing together as the tears on their cheeks run together. The room erupts into a cacophony of cheers and applause, but Carlos barely registers it.

He’s too busy kissing his husband.

**Author's Note:**

> Tomorrow is the last day of the 30 Days of Tarlos (how the heck did that happen?), and the final fic will take place at the wedding reception. 
> 
> [Follow me on tumblr](https://howtosingit.tumblr.com/)


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